A goalkeeper may not handle a team-mate's deliberate kick to them.

The rule and version used here

This page applies the IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27, effective from 1 July 2026, especially Law 12.2, Law 12.4 and Law 13. The 2026/27 change document, updated in July 2026, did not amend the deliberate-kick or team-mate throw-in tests.

The scope is eleven-a-side association football under IFAB's Laws. Futsal, beach soccer and competitions using a separate small-sided code have their own rules. A competition can also decide whether approved video technology is used, but that does not rewrite the Law 12 handling restriction.

Four questions decide the ordinary offence

1. Where was the hand/arm contact? It must be by the goalkeeper inside that goalkeeper's own penalty area.
2. How did the ball arrive? It was either deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper by a team-mate or received directly from a team-mate's throw-in.
3. Did another player touch it on the way? If so, the original pass or throw is no longer direct for this restriction.
4. Did the goalkeeper clearly try to kick it into play? A clear kick or attempted kick to release the ball creates the narrow failed-clearance exception.

If the first three conditions apply and the fourth does not, the hand/arm touch is the offence. The referee judges the facts and may apply advantage if continuing immediately benefits the opponents.

Foot or ankle contact can trigger the rule

IFAB's glossary says the ball is “kicked” when a player contacts it with the foot or ankle. A genuine play with the head, chest, knee, thigh or shin is not a kick for this test. That does not make a planned circumvention trick legal; Law 12 deals with that separately.

The kick must also be deliberate. IFAB defines “deliberate” as an action the player intended to make, rather than a reflex or unintended reaction. The referee therefore identifies both the intended action and the intended recipient instead of judging only where the ball eventually rolled.

The ball must be deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper

A deliberate touch with the foot is not enough by itself. Law 12 says “deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper.” If a midfielder passes to a defender, the defender misses the ball and it runs through to the goalkeeper, IFAB's current FAQ says the goalkeeper may handle it because the kick was not directed to the goalkeeper.

The opposite is also important: an intended pass to the goalkeeper remains restricted if the passer slips, underhits it or otherwise sends an inaccurate ball. The direction is irrelevant. A sideways or forward kick to a goalkeeper can qualify, while a ball travelling backwards does not qualify unless the deliberate-to-the-goalkeeper test is met.

Do not treat every awkward touch as an exception

A block, ricochet or accidental contact is not automatically a deliberate kick to the goalkeeper. For example, IFAB permits the goalkeeper to catch a ball after a team-mate blocks an opponent's shot because the ball was not deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper.

There is a separate route to play on when a team-mate did deliberately kick the ball towards the goalkeeper: if the ball then touches another player of either team before arriving, IFAB's FAQ says the goalkeeper may handle it, regardless of the strength of that intervening touch. The decisive fact is the intervening player touch, not whether it visibly changed the ball's direction.

Controlling or dribbling does not reset the restriction

A goalkeeper may play the restricted ball with the feet, but doing so does not give later permission to use the hands. If the goalkeeper receives a team-mate's deliberate kick outside the penalty area, dribbles back inside and picks it up, the offence occurs at the later hand/arm contact inside the penalty area.

The same applies when the goalkeeper tries only to control the pass and the ball rebounds from the foot or leg. IFAB distinguishes a control touch from a clear kick or attempted kick to release the ball into play. A failed control followed by a catch is still an indirect-free-kick offence.

A genuine attempt to release the ball can restore handling

Law 12 makes a narrow exception when the goalkeeper has clearly kicked or attempted to kick the ball to release it into play. If that clear action fails—a miskick, air kick or mishit that leaves the goal exposed—the goalkeeper may then handle the ball inside the penalty area.

This is about the purpose of the goalkeeper's action, not merely foot contact. A trap, dribble or touch intended to keep possession is not a release attempt. IFAB's FAQ applies the exception both to a team-mate's deliberate kick and to a team-mate's throw-in when the goalkeeper clearly attempts to kick the ball into play.

“Directly” survives the goalkeeper's own foot control

A goalkeeper cannot handle a throw-in received directly from a team-mate. The throw's direction and the thrower's intention to find the goalkeeper do not alter the text: the issue is direct receipt from the team-mate's throw-in.

Controlling the throw with the foot, dribbling into the penalty area and then picking it up does not make another player touch the ball, so the restriction remains. If a different player touches the throw first, it is no longer received directly. The clear attempted-release exception can also apply, but an ordinary control touch cannot.

A genuine header is legal; a planned workaround is misconduct

A normal header, chest pass or knee pass may be handled because it is not a kick. Law 12.2 separately prohibits a player from initiating a deliberate trick so the ball can be passed to the goalkeeper with the head, chest, knee and similar body parts to circumvent the restriction. The provision expressly includes tricks initiated at a free kick or goal kick.

The offence is the trick itself. It is penalised whether or not the goalkeeper ultimately touches the ball with the hands. The player who initiates it is cautioned for unsporting behaviour; if the goalkeeper initiated it, the goalkeeper is cautioned. Play restarts with an indirect free kick where the trick occurred, subject to Law 13's location rules.

The normal outcome is an indirect free kick, not a penalty

For prohibited goalkeeper handling, the indirect free kick is taken from where the hand/arm contact occurred. If that point is inside the goal area, Law 13.2 moves the attacking free kick to the nearest point on the goal area line that runs parallel to the goal line.

The referee raises an arm to signal an indirect free kick. A goal cannot be scored against the opponents directly from it; another player of either team must touch the ball first. If the kick enters the opponents' goal untouched, the restart is a goal kick.

No card for the goalkeeper's prohibited handling alone

Law 12 states that when a goalkeeper handles the ball inside their own penalty area when not permitted, an indirect free kick is awarded but there is no disciplinary sanction. That remains true when the handling prevents the ball entering the goal or stops an attacker gaining it; IFAB's FAQs expressly give no card in those situations.

Do not extend that protection to a different offence. The deliberate-trick initiator is cautioned. A goalkeeper who deliberately plays the ball a second time after taking a restart, before another player touches it, can be cautioned for stopping a promising attack or sent off for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. That is a restart double-touch offence, not the ordinary back-pass handling offence.

Outside the penalty area, ordinary handball law applies

The special restriction applies only when the goalkeeper handles inside their own penalty area. Outside it, the goalkeeper has the same handball restrictions as every other player. If the goalkeeper commits a handball offence there, the restart is a direct free kick, with a possible caution or sending-off depending on the offence's tactical effect.

There is also a separate inside-area offence after a goalkeeper legally controls and releases the ball from the hands: the goalkeeper may not touch it again with the hand or arm before another player has touched it. That restriction does not depend on how the goalkeeper originally received the ball.

The field decision is not a routine video review

Under Law 5.3, the referee may allow play to continue when the opponents receive an immediate benefit and return to the offence if that anticipated advantage does not materialise at the time or within a few seconds.

An ordinary back-pass decision is not a standalone VAR category. The IFAB 2026/27 protocol limits intervention to its listed categories, such as goal/no goal, penalty/no penalty, red-card and mistaken-identity situations, plus a competition option for clearly incorrect corner kicks. A disputed indirect-free-kick call is therefore normally decided by the on-field officials.

The intended pass falls short

Situation: a defender looks towards the goalkeeper and deliberately passes with the foot, slips, and underhits the ball. The goalkeeper races an attacker to it and catches it inside the penalty area.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: indirect free kick, no card to the goalkeeper. The pass was still deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper; its inaccurate result does not change its intended recipient.

A pass intended for another defender runs through

Situation: a midfielder deliberately passes with the foot to a centre-back. The centre-back misses it and the goalkeeper picks it up.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: play on. Although the first kick was deliberate, it was not kicked to the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper receiving the unintended loose ball does not complete the offence.

An opponent gets the slightest touch

Situation: a defender deliberately passes towards the goalkeeper. An attacker grazes the moving ball without changing its direction, and the goalkeeper then catches it.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: play on. IFAB's current FAQ treats any intervening touch by another player as breaking the pass-to-goalkeeper sequence, regardless of the strength of the touch.

A control touch bounces away

Situation: the goalkeeper tries to trap a deliberate pass from a team-mate. The ball rebounds from the goalkeeper's foot and is then caught before an attacker arrives.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: indirect free kick, no card. The goalkeeper tried to control the ball, not clearly to kick it and release it into play, so the failed-clearance exception does not apply.

A genuine clearance goes towards the empty goal

Situation: the goalkeeper clearly attempts to kick a team-mate's deliberate pass upfield. The miskick travels back towards the empty goal, and the goalkeeper handles it to stop it crossing the line.

IFAB 2026/27 ruling: play on. The clear attempted kick to release the ball activates Law 12's exception; the later handling is permitted even though it prevents a goal.

How to analyse a replay

1. Freeze the hand/arm contact and confirm it was the goalkeeper inside their own penalty area.
2. Trace the ball back to a team-mate's kick or throw-in.
3. For a kick, identify the intended action and intended recipient—not merely the ball's direction.
4. Check whether another player touched the ball before the goalkeeper received it.
5. Separate a control touch from a clear kick or attempted kick to release the ball into play.
6. Check for a planned circumvention trick, which has its own location and caution.
7. Apply advantage if it genuinely helps the opponents; otherwise award the correct indirect free kick.

Six claims to avoid

• “The ball must travel backwards.” Direction is not part of the Law 12 test.
• “Any deliberate foot contact by a defender is enough.” The kick must be deliberate and directed to the goalkeeper.
• “Any miskick lets the goalkeeper pick it up.” An inaccurate intended pass to the goalkeeper remains restricted.
• “One foot touch by the goalkeeper resets it.” Control and dribbling do not; only the clear attempted-release exception can apply.
• “A header back is always legal.” A genuine header is legal, but initiating a trick to circumvent the Law is cautionable.
• “Saving a goal makes it a red card or penalty.” Prohibited handling by the goalkeeper inside their own penalty area brings an indirect free kick and no card for that handling alone.

Governing-body sources and effective version

• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 12.2 and 12.4, with official FAQs on deliberate kicks, intended recipients, intervening touches, throw-ins and failed clearances
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 13.1–13.2 and official FAQs on the indirect-free-kick signal, location and circumvention tricks
• The IFAB — 2026/27 Football Terms glossary: “Deliberate,” “Indirect free kick” and “Kick”
• The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 5.3–5.4: advantage and VAR scope
• The IFAB — Changes to the Laws of the Game 2026/27, updated July 2026
• The IFAB — Circular no. 32, 31 March 2026: 2026/27 decisions and effective date

Checked on 26 August 2026 against IFAB's English 2026/27 live Law pages, official FAQs, change document and Circular no. 32. The 2026/27 edition took effect on 1 July 2026 and contains no change to the back-pass tests explained here. Competition rules govern whether approved video technology is used; separate futsal, beach soccer and small-sided codes are outside this page's scope.